A number of businesses offer money transfer and other services through a network of agents. A customer that desires to use these services to transfer money to a third party can take the money to an agent of the money transfer service. The agent accepts the money, obtains necessary information such as the customer's identity and the identity of the receiver, and initiates a transaction. The money is then made available to the receiver by another agent.
When a customer is ready to send the transaction, the agent collects fees to cover processing costs for the money transfer service, and provides a source of revenue for the money transfer service. A customer who makes frequent money transfers may be subjected to a transaction fee each time a money transfer transaction is generated and sent. In addition, the customer may provide cash, money order, or other immediate or near-immediate form of payment to the agent, and agent is responsible for the receipt and processing of the payment. This carrying and exchange of immediate or near-immediate forms of currency for each transaction can be inconvenient.
An approach to processing money transfers that both reduces the instances that currency is carried and exchanged and reduces fees for repeat customers would also be useful.